Girl tracksters win home meet

By Michael Jacobson

The Paynesville girls' track team defeated seven teams and won their home meet on Tuesday, April 12. This meet - their first home meet of the season - was scheduled for Monday, April 11, but was postponed to Tuesday due to rain.

The Bulldogs had 26 placers, including 13 that earned medals by placing in the top three. The Dogs scored 169 points to easily defeat Eden Valley-Watkins/Kimball (106) and ACGC (92).

Junior Tara Schmidt cruised to the finish line in winning the 100-meter dash at the home track meet on Tuesday, April 12. Schmidt won the 100-meter and 200-meter dashes at two meets last week for the Dogs.

The Dogs won five events, with junior Tara Schmidt winning both the 100-meter dash and the 200-meter dash. Her time (13.1) in the 100 was her best of the year. Sophomore Kacy Nehowig won the 1,600-meter run, ninth grader Kaitlyn Frenchick won the 3,200-meter run, and sophomore Tanis Beireis won the pole vault with a personal best for the Dogs.

Placing third for the Dogs were Johnson in the high jump and the 1,600-meter relay (senior Rachael Wendlandt, eighth grader Erin Guzy, Beireis, and Wander).

"The Paynesville girls' track team really dominated this meet," said coach Dave Randgaard. "We scored in all 18 events and had multiple places in many events."

The Dogs scored 126 points in running events - including 18 points in the 3,200-meter run with a 1-2 sweep by Frenchick and Beireis and 17 points in the 200-meter dash with Schmidt winning, Jaeger placing fifth, and Kally Felling placing sixth - and 43 points in the field events, noted Randgaard.

This week, the Dogs will compete at Melrose on Thursday. Next week, they will run at LPGE on Tuesday, April 26.

Willmar Optimist
The Bulldogs placed third in the ten-team Willmar Optimist Meet on Thursday, trailing only Class AA schools Willmar and Marshall.

"The girls' track team had a real battle with a strong Marshall team for second place," said coach Dave Randgaard. "We had a 117-108 lead before the shotput results came in, and Marshall placed second, sixth, and seventh to get second place."

The Dogs defeated BOLD/BL-H and Renville County West, expected to be top section rivals in true team.
The Dogs had 22 placers, including four champions and nine top-three finishers.

Senior Kendra Johnson won both the 100-meter hurdles and the 300-meter hurdles for the Dogs, and junior Tara Schmidt won both the 100-meter dash and the 200-meter dash for the Dogs. Johnson was the top hurdler at the meet, and Schmidt was the top sprinter, according to Randgaard. Schmidt also was third in the long jump.

The Dogs placed three runners in the top five in the 800-meter run, scoring team points. Ninth grader Kaitlyn Frenchick was second, ninth grader Melanie Koerner was third, and sophomore Tanis Beireis was fifth in that event.